Tate went on the "Today" show this morning, claiming Polanski wouldn't get a fair trial stateside for the rape of a then-13-year-old-girl back in 1977 -- because our "system is broken" -- and the matter would be better served in France ... whatever that means -- France can't prosecute him.

Tate added there's a difference between "rape and rape" -- and this was "a consensual matter."